Northwest NEWS

May 14, 2001

Free talk at REI on Victorian health and fitness

Many think of fitness and the pursuit of good health as thoroughly modern concerns, but Victorian Americans were fitness buffs and gym rats, too, in their own fashion. Our preoccupation with physical activity has its roots in the mid-1800s, when large numbers of American took up calisthenics, gymnastics, and weightlifting for physical, mental and even moral improvement. You can get some inspiration, or maybe even amusement, from these early fitness junkies at a free talk, "Exercise and Health in Victorian America," starting at 7 p.m. Monday, May 21, at REI-Downtown Seattle, at 222 Yale Ave. N.